Tag Archives: Workin’ Moms

Workin’ Moms doesn’t shy away from showing the flaws of being a mother. Part of the show’s charm and popularity is because of Catherine Reitman’s decision to show the challenges of being a working mother in 2018. And while there are plenty of laughs to go with those relatable moments via Kate (Reitman), Anne (Dani Kind), Frankie (Juno Rinaldi) and Alicia (Kat Barrell), the creation of Workin’ Moms came at a dark time in her life.

“I gave birth a couple of years ago and went back to work too quickly,” Reitman, the series’ showrunner, director, writer and executive producer says. “I had some pretty lethal post-partum depression and was actually fantasizing about death and it kept making me laugh. It wasn’t this dark, scary thing. It was this release. It made me happy, it made me hopeful. If the world would go away and these responsibilities would go away, life would be so much easier.”

Reitman spoke alongside Kim’s Convenience boss Ins Choi at the Banff World Media Festival on Tuesday morning during the CBC’s Breakfast of Showrunner Champions event. The packed room laughed nervously as Reitman recalled how her own mommy group stared at her while she related those feelings and realized the content would make for a television show. She couldn’t be the only one feeling the way she did, she reasoned and her husband Philip Sternberg—he’s an executive producer, director and plays Kate’s husband Nathan on the show—urged her to write it.

Tired of auditioning for roles for women that didn’t look or sound like her, she penned the scripts and created a sizzle reel. Once Sally Catto, general manager of programming at CBC Television, saw the reel she greenlit the series.

“Thank god for Sally,” Reitman says. “I say that every day because I get to sit here in front of all of you and watch a clip and remain floored that I was fantasizing about death and now people are watching [Workin’ Moms] and hopefully connecting with it.

I think [Workin’ Moms] Kate would keep it secret at the beginning because she’s not sure what to do (or what she wants to happen). I don’t think she could even tell Anne, because then Anne would immediately get upset and fire the nanny and the secret would be out.

Kate (while sometimes reckless) is smart. She would surreptitiously try to determine the extent of the affair without tipping anyone off. I think she would test the waters to see if it was possible to salvage the marriage.

She would definitely try to thwart any further romantic contact between the nanny and her husband. And she would try to repair her relationship with her husband as though nothing had happened and make sure that she spent time with her husband during times when opportunities to see the nanny might otherwise arise. She would definitely not have any qualms about discussing her now-steamy sex life and improved marital relationship with her friend Anne (in front of the nanny). She’s a bit vindictive at times, so she would relish the nanny’s attempts to hide her jealousy and pain.

In the beginning, I don’t think she would tell her husband if she got pregnant, because she might want to keep the option of an abortion open. But she would definitely tell Anne about the pregnancy (in earshot of the nanny) and pretend to be happy about it. The nanny would be the one to break the news of the pregnancy to Nathan, and his smile would give away the fact that he’s actually happy about this new development.

As her business becomes more successful, Kate would bring on more help, cognizant of the fact that (1), she needs to keep her husband occupied and (2), she will need help with her business if she decides to go through with the pregnancy. As is often the case with businesses, picking the right people and delegating will help her become far more successful far more quickly than she might have become otherwise.

Later, with the pregnancy progressing, Kate would be trying to decide if she wants to go through with it (knowing that she might have to do it alone). At this point, she will talk to Anne, after swearing Anne to secrecy. Anne will tell her to leave Nathan. Kate will delay the decision.

Eventually, Anne will end up spilling the beans to Nathan somehow (perhaps in an overly emotional moment). Nathan had been starting to feel that he was making a mistake leaving Kate and had already broken off things with the nanny. However, with Anne’s secret-spilling, he will once again feel that Kate is making decisions without him and will tell her that he wants a separation. Kate, furious with Anne, will end their friendship. —Tara

Sometimes it’s not only the visuals and storylines that make a television series great. The right music can really make a scene shine. The CBC knows what makes a good show, and with that in mind, have created playlists for numerous primetime programs on their platform to connect us with the series and characters we love. Even if some of the shows are have come to an end, CBC Music wants you to keep the sweet memories and enjoy your favourite series through the music. Here a just a sample of the sweet playlists CBC Music has put together to accompany your faves.

The mood: Heartland is full of heartwarming family moments. And the music is part of what makes it so special. This soundtrack is warm and sensitive. It is perfect for a family ride to the park or beach. Or even for a small family gathering in the backyard.

The mood: Whether you’re cooking dinner or gathering for a family game night, this soundtrack is what you’re searching for. Light but full of harmony, jazz makes the mood bright. You won’t even notice how your body starts moving to the rhythm.

The mood: You want to be as confident as Joanna Hanley? This music is gonna make you work hard. Perfect for your brain, but relaxing at the same time. Make your studying and working more enjoyable with The Weather Station or Etiquette.

The mood: Hello Goodbye makes you cry with happiness. It is what brings you pleasure and lets you discover incredible stories. The music is great for a date or just a quiet night with yourself, to understand and remember how family, friends and your loved ones are important.

The TV Show: Workin’ Moms

Key songs on the playlist: The Black Eyed Peas, Kelis, She-Devils

The mood: Girl’s night out? You definitely know what songs you need to have on your playlist! Something like “Love Fool” by Tanika Charles will make that girly atmosphere. A few glasses of wine, a little talk, the most important people and energetic music.

The mood: Caught is a story about drug dealers and prison breakers set to the perfect 70s soundtrack. Whether you’re going on a long trip or just want to survive in the morning traffic jams, the smashing hits from your favourite bands are gonna rock you. It doesn’t matter if you’re a 70s child or a freshman to the exciting world of free and unlimited self-expression, hits like “Tumbling Dice” by The Rolling Stones, “Crazy on You” by Heart and “Up Around the Bend” by Creedence Clearwater Revival will make you scream and sing along.

Well, [Workin’ Moms‘] Kate should do a brief introspection re: 1) how big or little was her own part in bringing her marriage to this which is, after all, a boat with two rowers who can be in harmony, at cross purposes or simply drifting and, 2) whether the marriage is important enough for her to attempt salvage.

If she’s basically an honest person, she’ll tell Nathan she knows about his affair and hear out his version of their marriage. However, the Kate the show has shown may well delay notifying her husband in order to make preparations that will benefit her at the dissolution of the marriage, e.g. consult a lawyer unilaterally, use Nathan to hold the fort while she’s getting her business off the ground. She was incredibly dishonest at her dual workplaces so her default setting appears to be subterfuge for personal gain. But when that would require a continuing sex life with a person who’s deeply betrayed her … it may be a step too far even for Kate who makes her living in an artificial world of lying or exaggerating for money.

Certainly, her toxic friend Anne is likely to egg her on in a bitter punishing direction as a wronged wife herself in her first marriage instead of bringing a therapist’s calm view to the situation. A therapist instead of a harpy type friend would urge more time spent on one’s own development instead of conducting an immature vendetta against what was a neglected husband in a marriage that clearly took last place in Kate’s priorities with career first and child second. Since Anne just aborted her own child for sheer personal convenience, imagine her advice should Kate get pregnant while her marriage is coming apart.

Nathan behaved like a jerk by stringing along wife and lover but both men and women often do that for a transition period while weighing whether to leave a marriage or not. Indeed, the lover is often a tool to get out of an unfulfilling marriage, a transition object. That said, his willingness to risk pregnancy by having unprotected sex with his wife makes him either stupid, swinish (not previously shown) or likely to break with the lover who’s then just a fling. —Laine

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

It’s been over 24 hours since the season finale of Workin’ Moms and I’m still reeling.

“Look Back” was, of course, beautiful and funny thanks to Anne (Dani Kind) and Lionel’s (Ryan Belleville) commitment ceremony that reunited the clan and saw the reappearance of Jann Arden as Kate Carlson. Throw in Val’s (Sarah McVie) outrageous dress choice and overshare about Alicia’s (Kat Barrell) bedroom antics and there was plenty to laugh at and enjoy.

But, in a stunning reveal, we learned Nathan (Philip Sternberg) and Mean Nanny (Jess Salgueiro) have been having an affair. This just minutes after Kate (Catherine Reitman) and Nathan’s quickie in the wedding hall bathroom. Now it appears as though Kate could end up pregnant. All this after a season where Kate lost two jobs, strained her friendship with Anne and started her own business. It was just too much; we had to get Workin’ Moms‘ creator, showrunner, executive producer, star and director Reitman on the phone to discuss it all!

Most showrunners, in a second season of a series, will expand their characters’ worlds a bit. But you blew the show up and sent them in different directions. Was that always your intention?
Catherine Reitman: Yes and no. We learn so much, the writers and Philip and I, during production. You can imagine things all day but the chemistry that happens in front of the camera absolutely determines things for me. Once I get in the edit bay and go, ‘Oh man! No wonder the audience is going crazy for him or her.’ I want to honour what’s meant to be and not just try to control it. Did I have a sneaking suspicion Sarah McVie was going to make Val the funniest character in the world? Yes. But did I know how great she was going to be? No. That’s something that I’m continuing to push forward. Even now I’m scratching my head in the Season 3 writers’ room wondering how I better feature our talent, how do I best include the chemistry that we’re witnessing. The yes part of it is, of course, I knew Jenny and Ian [Jessalyn Wanlim] and Ian [Dennis Andres] were never going to make it and there had to be consequences to her actions. That was something I had intended. So, yes and no.

You mentioned Val already. There were many funny moments this season and in the finale, but there were very serious moments too. Kate and Anne’s friendship … those characters were so real this season. Everyone can relate to them.
I’m so in love with Anne and Kate. I moved my world to Toronto two years ago and I don’t have a lot of close friends in my life. I have the people that I work with, my incredible kids and my husband. And I think most women that are full-time working moms are hungry for a friendship like that. We’re so desperate to see a connection like that. Dani Kind and I have become very close in real life and I saw our chemistry on-camera—which very much exists off-camera too—but I don’t think anyone, including me, knew how potent it would be. We started going, ‘OK, this is the real love story.’ The husbands and the partners are fantastic but what our audience really seems to be thumping their hearts for is the Kate-Anne storyline. And I do think that’s because so many women crave that in real life. I made the decision to direct the first and last episodes to bookend what a friendship could look like over a decade.

It was a dramatic arc with, I feel, Anne getting her mojo back after perhaps questioning her strength.
As far as the #MeToo movement goes, it has always existed. It’s this fantastic thing where victims are now having a voice. All of the women in our room, for the most part, had some uncomfortable stories with an authority figure. No one was hypnotized. We thought there was something that could potentially be funny, potentially be really creepy and bothersome. But, most importantly, that it would challenge this character we love to see as strong. People love that Anne is a no-nonsense ass kicker. So of all the characters, to see her emotionally threatened in a sexually deviant way by someone she trusted, her husband, it felt like the right combo to take her on a great arc. And then you have someone as brilliant as Christopher Redman come in [as Brad]. I think I saw the whole country of Canada, Greg, I read for that role for weeks and weeks and weeks because it’s a really tricky role. Chris had this amazing ability of making him very believable and nuanced while also tapping into funny even though it’s very serious subject matter. It was really exciting to cast him and realize we had something real on our hands.

Let’s break down the season finale. We had happy moments thanks to Lionel and Anne, and we had the sad because of the revelation Mean Nanny and Nathan are having an affair. With everything that Kate has been through this season—the death of her father, losing two jobs and a falling out with Anne—why this?
[Laughs.] It’s true. She got her ass kicked this season. Something that we’re really hemming and hawing about in the Season 3 writers’ room is … look, nothing justifies having an affair. I’m a married woman of 10 years, I can wrap my head around that. Kate, whether we like to admit it not, had both feet, head, arms, legs, breasts, her whole body out the door this entire season. She hasn’t been on the same page as her husband and there are consequences to that. I don’t think she asked for this and I don’t think she deserves this. But in my quest to have it all, in the hours that I spend working and the hours that I have left that I want to give to my children, my marriage often suffers for it. Luckily, Philip is in the same game as me. For most couples, the pressure to keep things alive … fuck sex, just staying emotionally connected is so much responsibility. As a showrunner, I knew the audience wouldn’t see that coming. It is a really effective gut punch. But, if you go back over the season, we planted so many seeds to show this coming.

What was Phil’s reaction to this story angle for Nathan and Kate?
We held off letting him know that detail. About halfway through writing the season the network comes in and we pitch them what we have so far. Philip came to that and we went through to the end and I looked right at him and I could tell his socks were knocked off. Phil is always story above all else. He was totally on board for it. The day of was challenging and the person I felt most for was Jess Salgueiro. She was just incredible on the day. Not only did she have to kiss Phil but I had to direct her in doing it. I pray every director gets to work with someone like Jess because there was no bullshit. She brought her A-game. Never for a second did I see her sweat or feeling uncomfortable. I was so impressed with her.

Where are you at with Season 3?
We’ve got about six episodes outlined that we’re just starting to draft out. That being said, everything can change. After watching the season finale last night, I thought, ‘You know what this needs? This, that and the other.’ I’m re-opening the outline of the first episode so it’s still all a Tetris board.

Do you think Kate should confront Nathan right away or should she focus on building her business? What was your favourite storyline from Season 2? Let me know in the comments below!